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London City Brass
Annual Report
0110112021- 3111212021
## Reference and administration
## Charity name and number
London City Brass (1186265)
## Principal address
249 Buckhurst Way Buckhurst Hill Essex IG9 6JB
## Trustees
|Trustees|||
|---|---|---|
|Jack Boyles|11/11/2019-current|Chair|
|Josephine Ashdown|11/11/2019-current|Secretary|
|Hannah Scales|11/11/2019-current|Treasurer|
|Sean Platton|11/11/2019-26/01/2022||
|Christopher Silberberg|11/11/2019-current||
|Laura Kirk|26/01/2022-current||
## Structure and governance
London City Brass (LCB) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charities Commission, registration number 1186265.
LCB is governed by a Constitution adopted 11 November 2019.
Trustees are appointed or re-appointed by election at an annual general meeting.
## Charitable objectives
LCB set out the following charitable objectives in their constitution:
- To advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art and science of music in all its aspects by any means the trustees see fit, including through the presentation of public concerts and recitals.
- To support such other purposes deemed to be exclusively charitable within the laws of England and Wales as the trustees in their absolute discretion from time to time determine.
## Activities undertaken for public benefit
In planning the activities of London City Brass, the Trustees have taken into account the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.
Over the course of 2021, once Covid-19 restrictions allowed, we carried out a large number of performances for public benefit. Our return to rehearsals was carefully managed to keep everyone safe and to restart our members’ much-needed musical involvement in preparation for gigs. Our first outing after our return to rehearsals was part of the national Proms in the Playground campaign, performing for school children at Churchill Gardens Primary Academy in Pimlico. This was a great opportunity to introduce future generations to brass band music and instruments, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Following this successful return to public performance, we played two bandstands across the summer: Victoria Park and Regents Park. Notably, the latter performance had a substantial audience who were introduced to the sounds of a brass band through popular music alongside traditional repertoire, free of charge.
After the summer period, we focused on furthering the musical skills and knowledge of our members by learning an extensive range of less familiar and more challenging pieces. We were also able to support several other charities, starting with the Cricket Builds Hope service in Kennington. This was followed by our Christmas concert with a closing collection in aid of St Mungo’s and The Together Project. Other Christmas events included performing at Stepney City Farm, St Margaret Pattens Church, and the Famous Royal Oak pub for community carolling events which were attended by people of all ages and backgrounds. Children were able to partake with percussion, contributing to their understanding and enjoyment of music and brass bands. Members of the public could also join in with singing, giving them an opportunity to take part in the music-making. Our Christmas performances brought musical enjoyment and education to the public, as well as chances to perform for our members, which is a valuable part of musical education and personal development.
As well as our in-person engagements, we continued to foster a thriving online community through social media and our website. Sharing videos of rehearsals and performances helped to bring brass band music to a wider audience. Evidence of our extended reach includes an increase of 66 Facebook page likes and 93 Instagram followers.
By carefully planning around the rapidly changing Covid-19 guidelines this year, LCB has managed to maintain a strong commitment to benefiting the public through our activities. When we were unable to rehearse, we kept members engaged and connected through monthly online socials and a regular newsletter. Once rehearsals recommenced, the mental health benefits and social interactions facilitated by our activities were obvious and much-appreciated.
## Main achievements
Over the course of 2021 we put on a number of successful, high-quality performances:
- Proms in the Playground
- Victoria Park bandstand
- Regents Park bandstand
- Cricket Builds Hope Carol Service
- Christmas Concert
- Stepney City Farm Carolling
- St Margaret Pattens Carolling
- The Famous Royal Oak Carolling
We reached a high standard of performance and saw members grow in confidence and in musical ability, a great achievement for us. This was enabled by a prompt reaction to changing Covid-19 regulations.
We have maintained a sense of community and belonging integral to our ethos as a band. This was achieved by keeping up regular social and musical events. Some of our socials included meals out, a virtual quiz, and virtual pottery and cupcake-making. Additionally, we introduced a band uniform to strengthen our branding and identity as a community. This was provided to members free of charge.
This year, we were able to register for Gift Aid and establish a Friends of LCB scheme. These two initiatives help to maximise our income from donations and therefore the charitable impact we make.
## Plans for the future
LCB will not be changing our charitable objectives in 2022 and our plans for the future continue to support these objectives.
We have a number of bookings for events which support other charities or causes, such as the MacMillan Cancer Research Parliamentary Tug of War event, Cricket Builds Hope and Surrey Cricket Club foundation carol service, and a concert to support Bench Outreach, a local homelessnses charity in South East London.
LCB hopes to return to the French Brass Band Open in Amboise in 2022, engaging with the wider European community of brass banding. We also hope to perform on various bandstands in the summer, including in Victoria Park, Regents Park, and Golders Hill. These are great opportunities to take brass band music to the public, spreading awareness and appreciation of the genre and giving members an opportunity to perform.
We will continue to challenge and develop our members’ and audiences’ education and appreciation of brass band music with an expanded and varied repertoire and programme of events.
## Financial review
## Financial position
At the end of 2021, LCB’s finances are in a strong position, despite the continuing limitation of activity due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic. In 2020 a priority was to build reserves within the finances and ensure that we had a robust foundation for the band to build upon in future years. We have continued to build upon this position throughout 2021, with end-year balances continuing to remain well in excess of the minimum reserve amount. Lost revenue from performances has been offset by reduction in costs whilst the continued regular income of subs from members has meant our main income stream has been relatively stable. In 2021 we were able to conduct a subs review and lower the cost of subs to £15, which we feel is sufficient to bring value to members whilst still providing the band with adequate income to meet our needs.
As we move into 2022, we will look to consider where best to invest in the development of the band, whilst still maintaining a healthy surplus to our reserve figure. We will also be looking to introduce a more formalised budget in 2022, which should allow us to plan for larger spending and use the band’s funds more efficiently.
## Policy on reserves
The trustees have set a policy to ensure an unrestricted reserve of £3,000 as a minimum is kept in the current account. This is to ensure short term commitments such as Musical Director expenses and hire of rehearsal premises can be sustained for at least 6 months.
## Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
## ack Bo les J y
Jack Boyles
Chair
10 February 2022
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Charity Name No (if any)
London City Brass
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 01/01/2021 31/12/2021
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Subs 5,709 - - 5,709 11,791
Performance Income 362 - - 362 1,097
Gift aid 2,161 - - 2,161 -
Donations 60 - - 60 -
Socials 973 - - 973 -
Competitions 2,611 - - 2,611 8,503
Miscellanous 1,260 - - 1,260 2,104
- - - - -
Sub total (Gross income for
AR) [ 13,137 ] - - 13,137 23,495
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 13,137 - - 13,137 23,495
A3 Payments
Venue Hire 1,644 - - 1,644 3,399
Staff 50 - - 50 -
Admin Costs 442 - - 442 762
Incidentals 248 - - 248 63
Charity Donations 282 - - 282 250
Socials 2,556 - - 2,556 -
Competitions - - - - 8,335
Miscellanous 436 - - 436 5,063
- - - - -
Sub total [ 5,657 ] - - 5,657 17,872
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
Music, equipment, instruments 912 - - 912 1,688
Uniform 4,523 - - 4,523
Sub total [ 5,435 ] - - 5,435 1,688
Total payments 11,092 - - 11,092 19,560
Net of receipts/(payments) 2,044 - - 2,044 3,935
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end - - - - -
Cash funds this year end 2,044 - - 2,044 3,935
**----- End of picture text -----**
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
10/02/2022
1
|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at**|**the end of the period**||
|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B1 Cash funds**|**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Main Bank Account YE 2020
Cash funds 2021
**Details**
**Details**
Music
Musical equipment
Instruments
Uniform
**Details**
Signature
Hannah Scales|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**3,937**
**-**
**2,044**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**5,981**
**-**
Agreement Error
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
Unrestricted
**-**
Unrestricted
**-**
Unrestricted
**-**
Unrestricted
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
Hannah Scales|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**When due**
**(optional)**
Date of
approval
09/01/2022|
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
10/02/2022
2